You might as well ask the wind what a typical day is like for it. The fact is that there is no such thing. Any given day may be filled with call after call after call and you never know where you'll be going or what you'll find when you get there. Other days you will patrol for what seems to be endless hours just wishing for something to do.

If you really want to know what a typical day is like for a police officer, I would recommend you go ride out with one. You would have to do this several times to get a true picture though. I agree with Rob and Billy. It is ever changing and unexpected...that's why they call it a Police Culture.

As above, there is no "typcial" day. That's one of the beauties of the job. Something new everyday, if not every hour.

However, I think what you want to know is on average, how much time is spent doing what.

If you are on patrol, obviously you will spend much of your time driving around, looking for law violations or suspicious things. You know it's a slow day when your butt hurts, because that mean's you haven't gotten out of the car in a while.

The vast majority of your time however will be spent talking to victims, witnesses, and suspects, in order to find-out what happened, or is happening. If you're not good at talking with people, you'll spend a lot of time fighting or chasing them. Depending on the area of town, talking doesn't do much good anyway, because some people would rather live in crime than civilization.

Once you're done talking to, and/or fighting and chasing (then hopefully arresting) people, you will spend a good bit of time writing, typing, or calling in reports. Of course, the longer you do the job, the better you get at cutting-out needless info, and the faster you can get back to patrol.

On most days, it's mostly talking, reporting, and patrolling. Contrary to popular belief, the chasing and fighting is rare (unless you just really suck with people, or get the uber-ghetto as your beat), but it is an ever-present possibility that can, and usually does occur without much in the way of warning (that's why vests and guns are part of the uniform).

But, as Jason said, to really get a feel, ride-out as often as possible, and see if your local department has any sort of citizen's police academy. That's what got me into the uniform.

"59 minutes of sheer boredom punctuated by 1 minute of sheer terror"... that was dredged up from my memory banks.. its a quote from some academician I read 30 or more years ago

ok... if you're a working street copper you stay busy all the time... probably 2-5 car shakes per hour... a cite or two for knuckleheads who need more "information",, throw in a report an hour... average about 6 per shift.. less if you have a homicide or major crime... its pretty easy to talk to 100 people in a day if you are working a city beat.. less if you are a rural policeman... each has their own ups and down... rural cops have to hunt more for bad guys,,, city coppers have stuff fall right in their lap just by having better odds...
A city copper has the chance of seeing a 211 in progress (robbery)where idiots run out of a bank right into their laps (we all pray to the arrest gods for this) or as I have experienced.. a gang shooting right in front of you ) gangbangers aren't the smartest tacks are they?... a rural copper may have the chance to find a rape in progress on some desolate road.. or even better an execution in progress...

It isnt all fun.. trust me.. there is a lot of paperwork.. but you get good at it and it becomes easy to do after awhile..
the rotating shifts suck.. hard on the body hard on personal life... the stress of having people crap on you.. after all we dont usually deal with "nice" people but are routinely dealing with the 5-10 percent of society that "normal" people dont deal with everyday... so.. that part is wearing.. but its also fun.. and very satisfying

Do you want to come home from working McDonalds and tell your kids.. daddy got to serve 3000 burgers today... or would you rather come home and tell your family... I really made the world better today... even though youll rarely directly know it.. but it happens every time you suit up